The geekiest thing I have knitted
Posted on | August 26, 2011 | No Comments
I generally only knit for close friends, family, and people who I’ve written a book with. Since I have a limited amount of time to knit I generally only knit projects for myself. But it is fun to figure out how to make something new, which I did when Dave asked me to make a Space Cabby scarf for him. Since Dave is the world’s foremost Space Cabby fan and I obviously love Amethyst Princess of Gemworld, I feel we share being placed in a similar position of linking comic book characters who are so obscure that there will never be any licensed merchandise produced for them. So there’s not much else to do than make it yourself! Dave described the scarf he had in mind, and sent me a rough drawing of what he wanted it to look like.
This scarf was knit simply, but I had to do the bow tie in intarsia which was a knitting technique I hadn’t tried before. You can see Dave modeling his Space Cabby scarf here.
Manga Report Updates 8/18/2011
Posted on | August 18, 2011 | No Comments
- Kicking the Tires at Jmanga.com
- Ooku Volume 6
- Scary Book Volume 1: Reflections by Kazuo Umezu
- Oresama Teacher Volumes 3 and 4
- Harlequin Manga Quick Takes – Married by Mistake!, Caribbean Desire, and Marriage Wanted
- Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
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The Dramas I Have Watched
Posted on | August 1, 2011 | 2 Comments
I thought I’d do a roundup post listing the Korean and Japanese dramas I’ve watched and am currently watching because it would help me remember which series I’ve finished and what I need to get back to. I started out watching only dramas that were adaptations of manga series, just because it amused me that manga series will often get live action adaptations of 12 or 22 episodes. I started branching out by watching original series as well.
Currently Watching
City Hunter – This doesn’t resemble the City Hunter manga very much, but I am finding it very amusing. The first episode is all somewhat melodramatic prelude, so I recommend watching the first two episodes at least if you are giving this a try. The Korean version of City Hunter is a boy who is snatched from his mother as an infant and raised by his adoptive father in the middle of the Thai drug Triangle. This gives him the perfect background to get a doctoral degree from MIT and come back to Korea as a superspy who wears fashionable blazers. The love interest in this story is a female bodyguard, so she has some nice short action sequences. City Hunter is on Hulu and Netflix Watch Instantly.
Heartstrings – This features the female lead and male second lead from You’re Beautiful. They are school rivals as he plays rock music but she is devoted to traditional Korean music. These actors had great chemistry in their previous series, so I was looking forward to this. I’ve only watched the first 3 episodes or so, but there appears to be a love rectangle forming that will result in plenty of tears. On Dramafever.
Favorites
You’re Beautiful – This was the series that caused me to finally break out of the habit of watching only manga adaptation dramas. A young girl in training to become a nun is abruptly told she has to masquerade as her twin brother and join a boy band. There are great elements of surreal humor in the fantasy sequences, and the actors are all very appealing. Most of the time I only watch a series once, but I’ve watched this two times. I am always amused that Korean high fashion for boy bands seems to involve articles of clothing usually worn by 60 year old women (shawls and cowl neck sweaters) On Hulu
My Princess – This has the most adorable lead actors ever, balanced out by the most annoying female villain. An indifferent but peppy student nurses a crush on her professor but finds her life changing when it is revealed that she’s the long lost heir of the Korean monarchy. Most dramas feature Cinderella stories to some degree, but this one goes all the way as she moves into a palace and starts taking princess lessons. It is so cute! On Hulu and Netflix Watch Instantly.
Boys Over Flowers – I love the fact that Boys Over Flowers has been adapted to television in so many countries. I’ve watched a bit of Meteor Garden and all of the Japanese series, but this adaptation is my favorite mainly because Lee Min Ho is such a great Tsukasa. On Dramafever and Netflix Watch Instantly.
Kimi Wa Petto – Japanese drama version of the great josei manga, which was released in America as Tramps Like Us by Tokyopop. An older career woman takes in a younger man that she finds abandoned in the street outside her house.
Series I’ve finished watching
My Lovely Sam Soon- This is a very Bridget Jonesish story about a woman who is dumped by her horrible fiance only to start to reinvent herself as a pastry chef. The restaurant owner is younger than her, rich, and arrogant. There are plenty of comedic moments and fantasy sequences that liven up the story. On Hulu
Coffee Prince- I am always a fan of media that involve girls cross-dressing as men. A hard-working poor girl gets a job in a “men only” cafe, so she pretends to be a boy in order to get a steady income. Cue plenty of gender identity confusion as her older, rich, arrogant boss becomes attracted to her. On Hulu.
Personal Taste – Handsome architect moves in with quirky furniture designer, pretending to be gay in order to get him to accept her as a roommate. On Dramafever.
Greatest Love- A washed-up pop singer becomes involved with an extremely arrogant Korean actor. This is from the Hong sisters who created You’re Beautiful. It is a little less wacky than You’re Beautiful, but still a cute show business story, and it is nice that it features a slightly older couple. On Dramafever.
The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry – Sort of like Sex in the City (but not as annoying) this show centers around the dating tribulations of 3 thirty-something women. On Hulu.
Dal Ja’s Spring – Best fantasy sequences ever, with references to Kill Bill and Wonder Woman. Older career woman takes up with younger man, complications ensue.
Mars – Taiwanese version of the Fuyumi Soryo manga. Angst abounds as a good girl artist falls for a bad boy motorcycle racer.
Partially Watched:
Iris – Korean spies and plenty of angst! For those of you that love the recent GI Joe live action movie, the male lead in Iris played Storm Shadow. On Hulu.
Secret Garden – I was spoiled for the ending of this series, and I haven’t finished it. But the episodes I watched were fun because the storyline involves some Freaky Friday body switching between a tomboyish stuntwoman and an effete executive. On Hulu.
Princess Hours – This is the drama adaptation of Goong, one of my favorite manhwa. It takes place in an alternate universe where the Korean monarchy has persisted to the present time. The art direction of this show is fabulous, with elaborate palace interiors and costuming. On Crunchyroll.
If you have any suggestions for dramas I should try watching next, let me know!
Books Read, July 2011
Posted on | August 1, 2011 | No Comments
Books
A View to a Kiss by Caroline Linden
Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Storm Born, Iron Crowned, Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead
Blackout by Connie Willis
Bridgerton Series books 1-3 by Julia Quinn
Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan
Manga and Graphic Novels
Kaze Hikaru #19
Library Wars #5
True Blood Volume 1
Story of Saiunkoku 3 and 4
Kamisama Kiss 3 and 4
Moon and Blood 1
Toradora 1
True Blood Volume 1: All Together Now
Posted on | July 29, 2011 | No Comments
I generally don’t go for comics adaptations of media properties, but I thought I’d give the True Blood graphic novel a try, since I watch the show and the IDW comics are now available on Digital Manga’s emanga online platform. The quality of the art was a little inconsistent. There were a couple of fun touches here that would appeal to fans of the show and the story served to give readers a glimpse of foundational moments in the pasts of the main characters. This volume was written by Alan Ball with a group of other writers so it is firmly in the continuity of the TV show, which I have come to think of as “alternate universe True Blood” because the stories are so changed from the books.
It is a dark and stormy night at Merlotte’s and Sookie, Sam, Jason, Lafayette, Tara, and a few bar patrons that serve as redshirts are trapped inside by an ancient tentacled spirit named Ted. Ted is an Imp Shaloop who feeds on the emotional energy of humans. So after trapping everyone in Merlotte’s, Ted decides to make everyone tell him their most shameful memory. This is a somewhat hokey plot device, but it does serve the purpose of giving each character some time under the spotlight. There are quite a few elements of dialog and character interaction that will appeal to fans of the TV show. Eric is as menacingly pervy as one would expect. Sookie’s accent is the focus of some jokes (as it should be) and Tara’s dialog is punctuated with plenty of profanity when she freaks out.
The art has an occasional bit of stiffness that probably comes from photo referencing. I think adapting a TV show is probably tricky, because people already have a set look in their mind for the characters. Sookie, Eric, Tara, and Bill all look more or less like the actors that portray them. Sam and Jason seemed to shift a lot in the arrangement of their facial features and character design from panel to panel, and I found that a little jarring because I kept mixing them up. I did like the way the art shifted in style sometimes depending on who was telling their story. Sookie’s memories were pastel, while Sam’s story of his teen shifter days looked more like a soft-focus animal fable. Eric’s story was drenched in sex and violence, and Bill’s account of his days shortly after turning a vampire had an appropriately old-timey feel.
I didn’t feel like this was a perfect graphic novel version of the TV show. I would have liked to see a more original plot, and art that could evoke the characters without the need to match the actors’ appearances. I’ve certainly read much worse in the way of comic adaptations of media properties, but I think this will appeal most to die hard True Blood TV show fans.
Flashpoint: Secret Seven #2
Posted on | July 12, 2011 | No Comments
Well, this was disappointing. I should really know better than to get my hopes up for additional appearances by Amethyst in the DC Universe. Since when she showed up last, she was an evil sorceress seductress who ran over Prince Topaz with a car, I was hoping that this Flashpoint series might improve on that. I’m generally fond of Peter Milligan too, since he gave the world X-Statix and Human Target. So Secret Seven shows the gathering of a team of magic users lead by Shade the Changing Man. An adult Amy Winston is introduced at the start of the issue. She’s spending her time teaching English to refugee children. I should have known that anyone doing charitable good works was going to be dead by the end of the issue. Amy is visited by two men in suits and sunglasses, saying that they’re there to check up on “beings of power.” A magical aura surrounds Amy and she has a vision of Mordu. She runs outside yelling that she’s only twelve years old.
Amy joins Shade and the Enchantress, yelling at him for inflicting insanity on her. Shade says he was only calling her, not inflicting madness. It seems like he doesn’t have the best grip on his mystical powers. Elsewhere other members of this magical supergroup are shown. Mindwarp is having issues. I don’t even know what to make of Zantanna. Amy needles Shade about the Enchantress and he attacks her. She promises to kill him if he tries it again. Abra Kadabra is holding a press conference to share the names of the Secret Seven. The Enchantress goes to check on Shade, thinking that she hears crying and she finds him holding Amy’s dead body.
So, not a very nice issue for anyone hoping for a good cameo from Amethyst. On the whole, this series still feels like all set-up and not very much story. For a mini-series I’d be hoping to have all the characters in one place by the end of the first issue but that doesn’t seem to be happening here. And I don’t particularly care what Flashpoint Shade’s mental issues are. This just wasn’t a very interesting comic to read, the only parts that were vaguely amusing were Amy’s bitchy comments.
Knitting Update
Posted on | July 12, 2011 | No Comments
This crumpled thing of maroon is an almost completed Citron.
I’m thinking of working a few extra repeats, to make it more of a shawl than a shawlette. In which case, it isn’t close to being completed. I’m thinking of making Blue Whale next. I have some Handmaiden Casbah in my stash, with two skeins that’s enough for this shawl with some leftovers for a hat or something else.
My vacation knitting next week will be a scarf I’m going to work on for Dave which will evoke the dapper and futuristic spirit of his favorite character Space Cabby. So stay tuned for that.
Amethyst Sketch by Jason Ho
Posted on | July 5, 2011 | No Comments
Amethyst by Jason Ho, as part of the campaign to Help the Cheerleader.
Books Read, June 2011
Posted on | July 3, 2011 | No Comments
Books
Dead Reckoning and Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
The Importance of Being Emily by Robyn Bachar
The Fire Lord’s Lover by Katheryne Kennedy
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
Manga and Graphic Novels
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Blue Exorcist 1 and 2
Afterschool Charisma #3
Tenjo Tenge #1
Kaze Hikaru
Saiyuki 1-4 (reread)
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan #3
Arata #5
Knights of the Zodiac #27
Dengeki Daisy #4 and 5
Demon Sacred #4
Shinobi Life #7
Karakuri Odette #6
Ridge: The Avenger
Codename Prince
An Officer and a Princess
Kaze Hikaru 15-18
Manga Report Updates 7/3/2011
Posted on | July 3, 2011 | No Comments
- Shonen Quick Takes – Arata, Nura, and Seiya
- Rereading Saiyuki Volumes 1-3
- Tenjo Tenge: Full Contact Edition
- Dengeki Daisy Volumes 4 and 5
- Demon Sacred #4, Shinobi Life #7, and Karakuri Odette #6
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